I don't care what is said, I still wouldn't allow my kids to read the book, go to the movie, or support Harry Potter in any way.
The lady that wrote the book made a statement about all the negative comments coming from the Christian community that "all Christians are idiots, and anyone that believes that there is a God is a fool".
I'll stand my groud. Thanks anyway...[:D]

Originally Posted By M4A3:
I don't care what is said, I still wouldn't allow my kids to read the book, go to the movie, or support Harry Potter in any way.
The lady that wrote the book made a statement about all the negative comments coming from the Christian community that "all Christians are idiots, and anyone that believes that there is a God is a fool".
I'll stand my groud. Thanks anyway...[:D]

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Hmmm...wouldn't have a source for that quote would you?

The first part of your life, you worry about what people think about you;

The middle part of your life, you don't care what people think about you;

The last part of your life, you realize they weren't even thinking about you at all.

Originally Posted By M4A3:
I don't care what is said, I still wouldn't allow my kids to read the book, go to the movie, or support Harry Potter in any way.
The lady that wrote the book made a statement about all the negative comments coming from the Christian community that "all Christians are idiots, and anyone that believes that there is a God is a fool".
I'll stand my groud. Thanks anyway...[:D]

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Gee in that case I will be sure to go and see the movie again on your behalf as well as buy a couple of extra copies for my kids to make up for your lack of support. Afterall anyone who has the intelligence to say things like that must not be put in the poor house for saying it.
Hey my ground looks pretty good, I think I will stay here too.

Originally Posted By RikWriter:
Hmmm...wouldn't have a source for that quote would you?

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Likely the same "reliable" source that probably also included the supposed story of Darwin's deathbed rejection of evolutionary thought. Why is it that some of these "Christian" types just can't realize that science (not pseudoscience) and religion can complement each other, and fiction is just fiction?
My synopsis of a "Christian" (I keep using quotes because I would once have considered myself a Christian until "Christians" just ruined it all for me):
A: "All it take to be a Christian is to truly believe that Christ is your Savior and you will be saved"
B: "OK, I believe that - did I mention I also believed the earth was as old as it looked"
A: "If you believ that, you cannot be a Christian - all the Bible is the literal truth."
B: "So what you are saying is I must not only accept Christ as my savior, but also believ the entire bible to be literal?"
A: "OK I guess, that too - after all, if you truly embraced Christ as your savior you would gleefully accept the literal truth of the Bible."
B: "I'm really not following your logic - but OK, maybe Noah and his family were centuries ahead of today's best Wildlife managers and Zookeepers/ Maybe he really could build a Ship better than any we could build even today - I appreciate your help in showing me the Way. Well, I am off to read Harry Potter to my kid."
A: "Harry Potter? Why, true Christians wouldn't read that stuff to their kids!!"
B: "OK, so let me understand this - I need to accept Christ as my savior, believe in the literal truth of the Bible, AND live in fear that Harry Potter and such are bad for my kids? Any other surprises?"
A: "Well, now that you mention it - Watch out for those scheming Queer types, Jews, etc. Also, don't celebrate Halloween - it's an evil Holiday. Did I mention that Christmas and Easter are just commercialized Pagan / Satanic holidays adopted by a corrupt and evil Cathlic Church? Hey - don't even get me started on our Public school teachers trying to teach kids about *gasp* EVOLUTION. I know my old man wasn't no ape! Oh, and did I mention dancing - dancing is out of the question... and drinking - forget that Jesus made water into wine and that - that is one part of the bible you can disregard - True Christians would never touch the stuff"
B: "OK, thanks... I uhh... I.. Hey, it's getting late - gotta go. (Wonder if I need to look more into this Buddha thing)"
Adam

"Anything that is too big to fail is too big to exist."- Simon Johnson

"There is a fine line between distrust of the government and due diligence, and just being a bat shit crazy."- Mister44

Originally Posted By M4A3:
I don't care what is said, I still wouldn't allow my kids to read the book, go to the movie, or support Harry Potter in any way.
The lady that wrote the book made a statement about all the negative comments coming from the Christian community that "all Christians are idiots, and anyone that believes that there is a God is a fool".
I'll stand my groud. Thanks anyway...[:D]

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Gee in that case I will be sure to go and see the movie again on your behalf as well as buy a couple of extra copies for my kids to make up for your lack of support. Afterall anyone who has the intelligence to say things like that must not be put in the poor house for saying it.
Hey my ground looks pretty good, I think I will stay here too.

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Go for it buddy. If exposing your children to those types of things doesn't bother you, have at it...
I just gave my opinion and wasn't trying to "convert" anyone. What you do with your family is your business, what I do with mine, well...is my business.[:D]
I just don't want to be the one exposing my children to witchcraft and scorcery. I'd rather they be exposed to things that promote good, kind, and loving values.
Remember, garbage in...garbage out.

I can't back the quote up with a source that you guys will deem credible anyway so I'll bite.
Here is a quote you might appreciate since you show your intelligence level with the snake handling comment.
"And Harry Potter and all of his wizard friends went straight to hell for practicing witchcraft"
- Ned Flanders

The exact quote was....since I'm feeling like stirring the pot anyway...
"What right do you have to critise and object to harry potter the way you are!! You people are just jealous that you will never be sucessful because you are all a bunch of losers, sorry there is no other explanation and the truth does hurt! you obviosly have nothing to do which means you all have no life. go read your s**t bible and leave us harry potter lovers alone!"

M4A3......Stay the ground, hold your beliefs...America was founded on a deep respect for the God of the Bible. All the freedoms we enjoy are "endowed to us by our Creator". Let the heathens rage.....but "forgive them for they know not what they do". Keep praying for the youth of America. Benjamin Franklin warned us that when we lost our respect for God our nation would die. These are precarious times!

Originally Posted By LTVN68:
M4A3......Stay the ground, hold your beliefs...America was founded on a deep respect for the God of the Bible. All the freedoms we enjoy are "endowed to us by our Creator". Let the heathens rage.....but "forgive them for they know not what they do". Keep praying for the youth of America. Benjamin Franklin warned us that when we lost our respect for God our nation would die. These are precarious times!

Originally Posted By M4A3:
Why does it matter one way or the other?
Will it change your attitude if I give you a reference you can bash and say it's not likely reputable?

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Well, it's quite obvious why it matters...if I gave you a quote that had, say, Thomas Jefferson saying that "rifles and pistols should be closely controlled and the common man should not own them" and THEN told you that the quote was from an editorial by HCI, you would be suspicious of it, wouldn't you?
One more point...there was actually a spoof website making fun of the whole Harry Potter controversy and some people here and at other message boards ACTUALLY BELIEVED the site was real!
So yes, it IS important. If you aren't confident in the source of the quote, you shouldn't have quoted it with such certainty.

The first part of your life, you worry about what people think about you;

The middle part of your life, you don't care what people think about you;

The last part of your life, you realize they weren't even thinking about you at all.

Originally Posted By M4A3:
The exact quote was....since I'm feeling like stirring the pot anyway...
"What right do you have to critise and object to harry potter the way you are!! You people are just jealous that you will never be sucessful because you are all a bunch of losers, sorry there is no other explanation and the truth does hurt! you obviosly have nothing to do which means you all have no life. go read your s**t bible and leave us harry potter lovers alone!"

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My guess would be that this "quote" is bullshit- I would expect J.K Rowling to at least be able to spell, and make a grammatically correct flame. She has, IIRC, written at least four books that we know of. And do you *really* think she'd use the word "shit" in some interview?
Oh, and if you actually read the books or saw the movie, you'd see that what is promoted is "good, kind, and loving values" like friendship, honesty, strength in the face of adversity, and courage. Oh my, how *evil*....

anything that would cause a child to get "geeked up", ir interested in witchcraft or sorcery cannot be a good thing, and anyone who reads the bible should know how GOD would feel about exposing children to this sort of thing, witchcraft, sorcery, and all of the other anti bible stuff is one of the reasons for all of the violence, and trouble in the U.S., if the bible is not to be looked at as fact, well then there is no god, and no god means, heck, just do whatever feels good, as long as you do not harm mother earth, there are a lot of people who did not believe in GOD, like darwin, but i bet he believes right now, keep fighting m4a3

i think it all boils down to this. If your kids are properly grounded and can distinguish between reality and fantasy then no problem.

The purpose of fighting is to win. There is no possible victory indefense. The sword is more important than the shield, and skill is moreimportant than either. The final weapon is the brain. All else issupplemental.

Harry Potter comes from the same "hero" myth that has been with us from who knows when. The Iliad, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars are all variations. Check out Joseph Campbell"s [b]"The Hero With a Thousand Faces"[/b]
Rather than get flapping, as the Brits might say, see how much it has in common with a good Bible story like Jonah.
Every generation likes to have their heroes and authors keep using this to their advantage.
Conan was a hero of sorts, instinctive and visceral, not judaeo-christian like most.

If you don't talk to your cat about catnip, who will?

When words lose their meaning, a people can move neither hand nor foot. Confucius

I read the first Harry Potter book last week. A friend had bought it at an airport bookstore, so I borrowed it. This is a book for, and about, middle class, Christian, British kids. The kids in the books celebrate Christmas and Easter, with zero mention of any other religion. The themes are good versus evil, team-work, and the importance of education.

Originally Posted By M4A3:
Go for it buddy. If exposing your children to those types of things doesn't bother you, have at it...

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How do you hide your kids from Halloween? Is that what you consider "good parenting"? Hiding anything from them which you fear to be "bad information"? Are you afraid that your children will make bad decisions if given a full dose of reality, so you choose to "shelter" them? We're not talking about anything more than folk lore and fantasy. Are you not going to let your children read the Hobbit either?
I'm just curious how you figure *fiction* is dangerous?

Well, for what it is worth, Rik -
I, for ALL the time I have spent here, can NEVER, not even ONCE, EVER, recall you admitting you were wrong, concede a point of argumentation, apologize, retract, or even admit miniscule error in one of your posts. EVER.
Now, granted, you are a VERY intelligent person, QUITE capable of eloquently communicating your well reason positions on a wide spectrum of subjects.
But NO ONE is right ALL the time.
And yet, you come off as omniscient on any subject you post on.
Which is what has convinced me that NOTHING presented you contrary to your POV will EVER moderate your position on any issue.
(Disclaimer: My observations of your thinking from an internet board are probably insufficient to draw any conclusions from. Further, my memory of whether you have ever moderated you position on any issue is finite.)

Originally Posted By William_Gunn:
How do you hide your kids from Halloween?

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We take them to game festivals at church's where the emphasis is on Christian values. Games, candy, free food & drinks, horse-drawn wagon rides, etc.

Is that what you consider "good parenting"?

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Yes it is. What business is it of yours, anyways?

Hiding anything from them which you fear to be "bad information"?

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Hiding? No, that would be pretending that the movie didn't exist. We discussed the movie with them and explained why they weren't going to see it. They showed no signs of trauma, threw no fits and offered no complaints.

Are you afraid that your children will make bad decisions if given a full dose of reality, so you choose to "shelter" them?

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No Christian parent here is trying to pretend that we'll be able to keep our children "sheltered" from "reality" forever. The point is there are appropriate ages for freedoms to experience the realities of life. Three year old kids don't cross streets by themselves. Eight year old kids don't get left at the park or the pool all day without a parent or responsible guardian. Ten year old kids don't watch horror movies. Twelve year old kids don't drive. Fourteen year old kids don't smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol. Again, what's your beef with this? Nobody is telling you how to raise your children (if you have any - and you sound like you don't).

We're not talking about anything more than folk lore and fantasy.

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Again - you are free to make that judgement call for your family. Are we not entitled to the same freedom? Or are [b]you[/b] more qualified to tell [b]us[/b] how we should be raising our kids? You're starting to sound more and more like Hillary....

Are you not going to let your children read the Hobbit either?

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I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. Nobody has brought it up yet.

I'm just curious how you figure *fiction* is dangerous?

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And you're positive that's all it is? If that's good enough for you, fine.

Originally Posted By a3kid:
We discussed the movie with them and explained why they weren't going to see it. They showed no signs of trauma, threw no fits and offered no complaints.

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" No signs of trauma"
BWAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!
A3-
You slay me man!!!!!
Its ironical really - the people defending Potter, their main argument is "Its just a movie - nothing more."
Yet they are defending it like it was the Alamo, or the Bill of Rights.
Well, folks, which it is - an insignificant movie, or the most important thing to happen since Thom. Jefferson penned his name at Independence Hall????
[:D]

Increments...its all about increments...a well known local practicing satanist
once told me that it was all about getting kids moved into witchcraft and satanism by increments..the approved of versions of the occult..the ouji board, astrology, the so called innocent entertainments from there manipulated into the deeper darker things..if nothing else what is accomplished is to deny the existance of satan, demonic power to make it appear to be fiction, fantasy, there fore false..and by extension then the spiritual world equally false..and by further extension God and more importantly the things of His Christ false...and the only "reality" science
-The wisdom of the wise is foolishness to God-